2021, Yasss!

Last year was Phenomenal for me. I know that is probably hard to believe given that America and the World had to be on pause for the Corona Virus Pandemic. It was a strange year, yet the most successful year for me since 2014 & 2016. I was able to create a Small business that may not be very lucrative since I have a lot of Competitors where I live. That’s OK, I am remaining hopeful. I have a small niche to help other people organize their homes and offices, cars, etcetera. I have a true passion for people to be able to breathe and live simply without a lot of stuff. I was told by someone close to me that people fill their lives up with possessions when they are not happy or if they are depressed. This is a true fact!!! I am so Extremely proud of myself. Ha, me proud? Yes, I even called a Lawyer to see how much it would cost to type up a Legal contract for my clients and this guy was going to charge me $600. Now, it doesn’t sound bad, especially if it protects me from a Client lawsuit. Yikes! Yet, I am not spending that much when I can write up my own and I have written my own up with the help of Resources I have discovered online and even my Graphic designer. Don’t tell her I said so, thank you Kimberly! Anyhow, this new Year, I am continuuing to take care of my health, exercise, eat right, Keep up with blogging, and finding the right Job that doesn’t get my attention deficit all in a bundle. I am not afraid to admit I am a slow worker. Once I get the hang of things, I can work faster and hopefully not sloppily. I am excited for this year. I hope to make new friendships, a good Client base. I hope that I can collaborate and even find people who can give me good Business advice without deterring me. Kindness pays people. We should all be supporting people to do well in their Small Business ventures and whatever other talents we have.

Core Values I hold on to

This is just something extra I thought I would add that means a lot to me. All of these values hold some meaning and significance to me. All of these take practice in my eyes and not all of them can be perfected, yet we can do and try our best. Also, we have to believe that we are some of these already or already hold some of these dear to us already. Maybe we learned them from our parents, siblings, or even other friends and mentors. I believe in holding true to my Values in order to have a Life worth Loving!!! 

Assertive  (needs work)                                                 Patience

Awareness                                                                        Peace

Beauty                                                                                Power

Courage/Bravery                                                             Productivity

Certainty                                                                            Prosperity

Clarity                                                                                Purpose

Common Sense                                                                Results-Oriented

Communication                                                              Service

Collaborationg (ideas)                                                   Sharing

Competence/Abilities                                                   Security

Confidence                                                                       Significance

Connection                                                                       Spirituality

Curiosity                                                                           Strength/Vitality

Determination                                                                 Success

Empathy/Feelings                                                          Thankful/Gratitude

Empower/Inspire                                                           Transparent/Vulnerable/Authentic

Energy                                                                              Truth                           

Enjoyment/Pleasure/Adventure/Explore                Understanding

Excellence                                                                        Uniqueness/Openness

Focus                                                                                 Unity

Growth/Learning                                                             Vision/Perspective

Harmony                                                                            Wisdom

Health

Hope

Inquistive

Intelligence

Leadership

Love

Loyalty

Motivation

Optimism

Organization

Standing By Your Values

Standing By Your Values

Perhaps the most important and best thing we can ever do for ourselves is not to allow others to persuade us out of what we truly Believe. The things we know won’t harm us. The things that would never cause us to lose our health and to truly be able to give to others, not just one person. It is EXTREMELY important to look out for ourselves. I hold on to values of really not trying to hurt someone else. I have however also gotten vengeance on someone that hurt me and it didn’t really do much in the long run. By that, I mean, it didn’t change that person from ever wronging me again. Sure, it hurt the person I got back, yet it didn’t change anything in our relationship in the long run. I know that sounded repetitive. 

Some of my values and beliefs have changed incredibly in the last three to four years. I definitely see things from a totally different perspective than all of the members of my Immediate family and perhaps even differently than my extended family. I told myself that I would be completely vulnerable and share some of the beliefs that I have. I have definitely changed my Spiritual perspective and that is only because the Christians in my Life have tunnel-vision. They don’t have the same heart as me when it comes to possibly opening their doors up to someone who could be homeless, especially not their own bloodline. I have been homeless and felt like I had no control of my own Life and decisions and nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to for Safety. Do not get me wrong though, and I am completely sounding like a double-standard here, but there are certain people I would not open my door to as well. Two of my most memorable experiences of people in my Life that were not Christian who did anything for me were my Catholic friends. My old friend and acquaintance Katey and her parents opened their doors to me when I was struggling and also my Pretend adopted mother Geneva. I will never forget either of these Groups of people for as long as I live. I would elaborate on the Story, yet it just goes to show that good things and miracles come when you least expect and from people you least expect. 

The last four men I had had a relationship and friendship with were completely toxic to me and really had nothing to offer me. I made believe in my mind that they had something to give as I had seen them give to other people in both big and small ways. I wanted to be given the same way. I wanted to feel Safe and protected by them. I compromised everything and all my Values for them, for a false fantasy. Needless to say, lessons are definitely learned. I am probably Only going to say this once, if you are a Parent, PLEASE NEVER hesitate to tell your children to “Love themselves”, explain what it means, to not Sacrifice your own health and mind over someone else, especially if they hurt you once or even maybe a dozen times. There needs to be a line you draw, a Boundary. 

There is so much fun relative to the Values you hold true to. A new value I am going to hold on to much like the word Loyalty is being Competent. My therapist at the moment just shared this word with me and I’m going to tell you that I have seen this word so many times in my Job Search. Companies and people want someone who is competent and able and who is fully going to Show up. Ironically, I already knew this, it’s just I have to constantly tell myself EVERY SINGLE Day just as I will show up for myself in my own Business!!!

 

 

Showing Up for Myself and Others

Showing Up for Myself and Others

So the other day I had listened to a good educational Class on Branding and how we can represent and show up for ourselves and for others and it got me thinking. I was hoping and praying to be able to think more clearly and gain some Clarity and Creativity as I was having blocks to what I would write next. About seven or eight months ago, I had all these ideas in my head and some of them stuck with me and others just left. I wish I had written all of them down now. Some I did write down and that’s what I have already written about. So, as I was watching this Branding Class, I realized that the one Common Denominator is how we Show up, how we Love, how we give what we have to give and to share. 

Much of my bloodline has said I didn’t have much to give and yet they never really observed or knew what I have already done and accomplished in my Life. My siblings were raised up to compete and compare ourselves to one another, particularly my baby sister and my second oldest brother. Often my brother doesn’t realize the truth about the woman I lived with the last seven and a half years. It doesn’t matter anyhow whether some people don’t know the real truth. We all chose to see what we chose to see. 

When I signed up to be a Member of the Assembly of God Church in 2015, I learned what my Spiritual Gifts were. Some people in the Real Working World may also call these Values, Knowledge and even Soft Skills. My Spiritual Gifts are Knowledge and Wisdom. I also have the ability to understand empathic people. I can understand other people’s pains, struggles, and hardships. I have been in their shoes. I have been judged as they have been judged, especially if we made several wrong turns in Life, or Here it Comes!, we just totally Gave up on Ourselves cause things got too hard. 

Anxiety can totally take over when we have so much to Give, so much to offer the World. Things to say to hopefully give other people insight and perspective, knowledge to Grow, to Succeed and how to make things work in a Balanced way. I have struggled with Anxiety when someone makes me nervous as well. When people in a position of Authority already, it is EXTREMELY difficult for them to see other perspectives. I am more drawn to people who are willing to be creative and accept the possibility that something else may work if we give it a try. We don’t know unless we TRY the ideas. That is where we may fail to make something or someone better! 

The other part of my Anxiety is becoming so anxious about getting something accomplished. I get excited about putting my Goals and plans into action. I have to stop myself and realize I need to break things down. I need an Outline. I have done a ton of Research and sadly, I have almost always forgotten to take notes. Me? Not writing things down? Ha. If I wrote everything down, I would be so disorganized. I already have two Journals as it is. I have a Journal for my Daily and weekly things I have done and accomplished, people I pray for and I also have a Future Self Journal with all my future ideas. Organizing is important. I have had to figure out a method to put things in their proper place so you know where to go for the much needed things. 

There are many times over that we may have to Come back to ourselves when we Sacrifice too much for someone else. I have allowed so many distractions in my Life, including believing I could help fix someone, particularly broken men. I have always had to Come back to myself. To reset my mind and my Subconscious. To really know my worth for people who broke me down and made me doubt myself and what I am capable of. Projection is a nasty thing! I am thankful to all my Positive mentors who have told me to go where the energy is, to go where you see a need, to go where there are like-minded people who have similar knowledge and experience to offer. People who are in need who want help are the easiest to work with. They believe in Growth, they believe in something better awaiting for them. You will know the difference after your help has been turned down so many times. Just keep trying, just keep working, just keep Loving as much as possible! 

Stop Being So Tough on Yourself

Stop Being So Tough on Yourself

I’m mostly writing this Chapter based on my observance of my mother and sister all of my Life. It’s been interesting to see them in their striving for Perfectionism. Things had to be done a certain way. They had to have things organized and put where they wanted. They had to have their dishes washed a certain way. They were major clean-a-holics. There could never be specks of anything on dishes. The list goes on! 

OK, so I changed my mind, I have observed other people as well do things perfectly down to the wire it seems. When I have worked in the Service Industry, you have to be organized, take Sanitary and clean-up precautions. Everything has to be followed by procedure and by Policy. This keeps things neat and it provides a degree of comfort to Customers and other people. I will agree there is nothing worse than things not being clean. It’s the same as not washing your body once a week, at least! 

Another example of someone being ‘tough’ on themselves: when I was in College, I was more focused than I had ever been in High School. I wanted to do well. I did not care if I received an A, as long as I knew I put in the time and effort to do the work. I felt a sense of accomplishment no matter what the Grade was. I did not strive to get A’s or seem to have to Prove myself to be the Best of the Best. I am often proud of others’ Successes whether they received Rewards and high achievement Awards, what matters to me is the work they put in and what they can use in the Real World to make their lives and the lives of others better. Here comes a judgment: I DO NOT LIKE PEOPLE WHO ARE TOUGH ON THEMSELVES, who believe they have to have it so Perfect down to the wire. Ack! Can you see me running flailing my arms? Maybe I need a change of behavior or thought on that. The people I admire the most is anyone in the Psychology field. Later I am going to mention my favorite Psychologists and some of my favorite LIfe Coaches and Spirituality Leaders that have helped me in tremendous ways! These are people who I believe did not have to be so tough on themselves and yet maybe in a way they have been. 

Having Different Perspectives

Having Different Perspectives

About four years ago I took a two-day Course in Customer Service Problem Solving Skills and how to deal with Upset Customers and in the Course I remember we had to look at several pictures that had two or three different pictures within one drawing and another that had several hidden items within a picture. Both of these exercises were used to help us see or gain a different perspective to how things are drawn or even sometimes written into something. It is more difficult for us to understand what someone’s meaning is if they don’t fully explain it. What I mean by this is that people speak incompletely. I often called it speaking in riddles. Two particular members of my family would leave things out or not explain their full meanings to something. I was supposed to automatically know what they meant. I am laughing out loud. I have had to think hard and Research and analyze what other people have meant. Can you see me rolling my eyes? 

I recently had a member of my family explain the difference between someone who is Logical and someone who may be too emotional to understand what they mean by something. What I find funny is that when this person played a Ted Talks video on the keys to using facts versus emotions, that within that same Video, it talked about having different perspectives. Nowhere in this tough discussion with this family member did they recognize that. I came to the Conclusion from our discussion that I was the only one who would be able to see their perspective and yet they could not see mine. Head tilt. Bottom line, apparently emotions are not facts. Why couldn’t they just say that? Shrugging it off. How does one have a discussion with someone who is logical and not empathic? Is it possible? 

When I talk about emotions not being fact; to me, all emotions are Valid. It does not mean that another person will take them as Real. Why? Because they can not and are not able to put themselves into your shoes. Because they did not go through what you went through emotionally, things that could have traumatized us or left us feeling abandoned. Empathic people are the Only ones who are able to do this. My emotions were not ever allowed to truly be shown growing up and even now as an Adult sadly. In psychology, therapists talk about this not being seen or even heard. That nothing we said would ever be validated or understood or shown Compassion and to help us work through and identify where our behaviors could be modified. 

Perhaps Interview empathic people who have different perspectives.